In the film, Iree echoed Kennedy's faith in tradition. "My grandmother quilted from sheep's wool, my mama quilted, now I quilt and so will my daughter," she said.
The film is told almost exclusively in the Bowlings' voices, with only section headings to narrate the action.
"I started by asking a lot of questions on welfare and poverty," Kennedy said. "But eventually I stopped asking the questions and allowed the characters to take us on the fantastic journey that is this film."
From her first film, "Women of Substance," to her current work, Kennedy has focused on social issues in her films.
She is currently working on a film on a Mississippi family that is struggling with mental illness, as well as a film on Hillary Rodham Clinton's race for the New York senate seat.